2010.09.2008:19:00UTC+00Greek July Current Account Deficit Narrows

The Greek current account deficit totaled EUR 1.48 billion in July, narrowing from EUR 1.67 billion deficit recorded a year ago, the Bank of Greece said on Monday.

This improvement was mainly due to a decrease in the trade deficit and small rise in the surplus of the services balance, the bank said. The trade deficit, excluding oil decreased to EUR 1.67 billion from EUR 2.25 billion last year. At the same time, the services account balance showed a surplus of EUR 2.36 billion, up from EUR 2.30 billion surplus a year ago.

The income account deficit rose by EUR 62 million to EUR 1.17 billion in July, mainly due to higher net payments for interest, dividends and profits. The current transfers surplus fell to EUR 17.3 billion from EUR 95.5 billion last year.

The capital transfers surplus increased to EUR 664.2 million in July from EUR 354.6 million a year ago, while the financial account surplus decreased to EUR 1.40 billion from EUR 1.70 billion last year.

Meanwhile, the current account and capital transfers balance showed a deficit of EUR 817.6 million in July, narrowing from EUR 1.31 billion deficit last year.

In the January to July period, the current account deficit dropped by 0.9% or EUR 154 million compared to the same period of the previous year. The current account deficit totaled EUR 16.0 billion during the period, narrowing from EUR 16.16 billion last year. The income account deficit slightly declined, but the surplus of the current transfers balance narrowed.

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